Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
____________________________________________________________________________________
Ny-Ålesund Newsletter 40th Edition – February 2018
Photo: Max König, NPI.
News from the flagships by Christina A. Pedersen, NPI
Below are some updates from the four Ny-Ålesund flagships. As always, the latest updates can be found on the flagship webpages: http://nysmac.npolar.no/research/flagships/ First, scientists from the flagships were heavily in-volved in the Svalbard Science Conference, with the flagship chairs being part of the scientific committee, as well as being responsible for the programs for the discipline sessions. Also, all flag-ships arranged add-on side meetings to the confe-rence to discuss further flagship progress. The Atmosphere Flagship elected a new chair, Radovan Krejci from Stockholm University. He re-places Roland Neuber from AWI, whom we thank for great contribution over the last years. New vice-chair is Stephen Hudson from the Norwegian Polar Institute. The flagship funded seven guest visits between institutes last year. They all focused on common data analysis and common publication, and we look forward to see the results and outcome pre-sented at various arenas this year. A subgroup from the atmosphere flagship com-munity had success by receiving grants from the SIOS pilot call for assembling a first synthesis on the Lower Atmosphere above Svalbard for the first State of Environmental Science in Svalbard (SESS) report. The focus will be on observed long-term trends, small-scale processes and surface exchange. In preparation for a more thorough syn-thesis for the second SESS report in 2019, the project group will invite all atmosphere researchers interested in contributing to a workshop in Potsdam in October/November 2018. Further, the flagship committee submitted a proposal to the Svalbard Strategic Grant to continue the activities from the last years.
The Kongsfjorden Flagship, with its chairs Kai Bischof from the University of Bremen and Geir Wing Gabrielsen from NPI, is busy preparing for the workshop in Tromsø 14-16 May 2018. The first circular with announcements will soon be out. One of the aims of the workshop is to prepare a common application for an EU H2020 call, where the six workgroups defined by the flagship, are central elements. The Terrestrial Flagship gathered forces at the Svalbard Science Conference in November 2017, and submitted its first common flagship proposal to the Svalbard Strategic Grant later the same month. The proposal focused on coordinating and inte-grating the various research and monitoring acti-vities conducted in Ny-Ålesund on tundra, lake and soil ecosystems to assess their sensitivity and resilience to change, and also identifying a few hot-spot strategic locations for measurements/plots to reduce the environmental footprint and increase collaboration. Six working groups were identified. The planned activity focuses on two open work-shops, the first is planned for August 2018 in Ny-Ålesund, and the second is planned in Longyearbyen in 2019. The Glaciology flagship arranged the Olav Liestøl Symposium, focusing on integrating field measure-ments, remote sensing, and models of Svalbard glacier mass balance, as part of the Svalbard Science Conference. The event was very success-ful with about 70 participants covering all fields of glacier research and monitoring. The symposium aimed at bringing together researchers from the various international groups studying Svalbard glacier mass balance to promote better collabo-ration and cooperation, and to integrate the field studies with glacier and regional climate modelling efforts.
NNyy--ÅÅlleessuunndd NNeewwsslleetttteerr –– 4400tthh EEddiittiioonn –– FFeebbrruuaarryy 22001188
___________________________________________________________________________
2
One of the results from the increased collaboration is the assembling of a common mass-balance database, based on at-stake measurements, for the period 2000-2015. The next steps will be to generate a paper summarizing and integrating
these measurements, as well as to extend the database by including more parameters like density, and possibly also snow measurement data. Field work collaboration for 2018 will include a continuation of the Austre Lovenbreen coope-ration, and start focus on the Kongsvegen surge.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Nick Cox has approved The Polar Medal, Second Clasp, by HM Queen Elizabeth II.
By Ingrid Halsebø Storhaug, NySMAC secretary, NPI.
The Polar Medal was first instituted as the Arctic Medal in 1857. In 1904 it was renamed the Polar Medal to reward participants in Captain Robert F Scott’s successful first expedition to the Antarctic. The medal was also intended for those who gave valuable service in any subsequent expedition in conditions of extreme hardship. More recently, The Polar Medal is awarded to individuals who have given outstanding achievement and service to the UK in the field of polar research, often over pro-longed periods of time and in harsh conditions. 26 January 2018, the London Gazette published that Nick Cox had received a second clasp to his Polar Medal. He has worked at British Antarctic Survey for over 40 years and was awarded the Polar Medal in 1993.
The second clasp highlights his continued service for British scientific activity in Ny-Ålesund. All British scientists coming to Ny-Ålesund has bene-fited from his practical arrangements and compe-tence. In the period 2013 - 2017 he served as chairman for NySMAC. Following this approval, Nick was invited to dinner at the Royal Palace in Oslo in connection with Prince William and Duchess Kate’s visit to Norway. He had Queen Sonja, Prince William and Prime Minister Erna Solberg as dinner partners.
Photo: screenshot from NRK2
NNyy--ÅÅlleessuunndd NNeewwsslleetttteerr –– 4400tthh EEddiittiioonn –– FFeebbrruuaarryy 22001188
___________________________________________________________________________
3
Arctic Metrology in Ny-Ålesund by *Andrea Merlone,*Chiara Musacchio,*Graziano Coppa,**Angelo Viola,** Mauro Mazzola,** Vito Vitale
*Istituto Nazionale di Metrologia - Torino – Italy
** Istituto di Scienze dell’Atmosfera e del Clima Bologna – Roma Italy
In line with the growing collaboration between metrology, the science of measurements and climate, and environmental sciences, the starting structure for a Metrology Laboratory in Ny-Ålesund was launched in May 2017. After the successful “Arctic Metrology Campaign” in 2014, made in collaboration with the GRUAN station of AWI, this second campaign in 2017 was again organized by the MeteoMet1 project with ISAC-CNR. After having shipped the necessary equipment, metrologists went to Ny-Ålesund to instal the instruments specifically designed for the cali-bration and characterisation of the sensors used to record temperature and pressure values in the area. This initiative gave life to the “Arctic Metrology Laboratory”, in the Vaskeri lab and intended as a common facility to benefit data quality of the numerous measuring installations and project now active there. The laboratory was presented at the third arctic metrology workshop, organised on 10 May 2017 in Ny-Ålesund, after the first edition held in Torino in 2015 and the second one in Oslo in 2016. The proposal for a common metrology infrastructure, not limited to on site calibration, but extended to studies on the evaluation of field measurement uncertainty, was previously also presented during a Breakout session at the Arctic Circle Assembly of 2016, at the presence of numerous researchers from EURAMET, the European Association of national institutes of metrology. The laboratory is now fully operating and allows the calibration of temperature and pressure instru-ments, the characterisation of sensors dynamics, the evaluation of mutual influences among the quantities. Special calibration procedures are dis-cussed with the users who now can save time and funds in shipping the sensors for calibration. Following those first technical steps and discus-sion events, the laboratory is now ready for an implementation plan, to be agreed with the re-searchers operating in Ny-Ålesund. A survey has been prepared and circulated, to better address the request of the users for further campaigns. A discussion forum will be available to
1 MeteoMet – Metrology for Meteorology is a project of the European Metrology Research Programme
extend the interest on the Metrology Laboratory facility in Svalbard. As new application, in fall 2017, the laboratory activity was devoted to calibrate the temperature probes used into the soil and on snow layer posi-tioned at different heights to retrieve heat fluxes at the interfaces soil-snow atmosphere. The sen-sors consisted of two different couple of PT100 resistance. They were introduced directly in the thermostatic bath, varying the range of tempe-rature from -15°C to + 5°C. Moreover, the cali-bration of Eddy covariance system EC150 owned by KOPRI and installed at CCT was also done in the same period. The calibration campaign planned for spring 2018, will include the evaluation of the study of the sta-bility and the possible drift of the thermal sensors from the previous calibration. Checking sensors and loggers at the Climate Change
Tower, Photo: Graziano Coppa
Calibration of EC150 gas analyser in the Vaskeri Lab
NNyy--ÅÅlleessuunndd NNeewwsslleetttteerr –– 4400tthh EEddiittiioonn –– FFeebbrruuaarryy 22001188
___________________________________________________________________________
4
_________________________________________________________________________________
News from Svalbard Science Forum By Margrete Kayser, SSF
The Svalbard Science Conference 2017 6-8 November was a success
With 300 participants from more than 20 countries, 200 abstracts, 100 posters (with poster evaluation), 100 presentations and 5 side events, it really shows that the “Svalbard research family” is a very active family.
The 3-day conference started by Setting the Stage with key notes, an international panel discussing the importance of Svalbard research in the future, a toolbox session, and was concluded with a poster session. For day two, Connecting Svalbard Research, the Advisory Scientific Committee had suggested three overarching topics. For each topic, the chair had invited speakers, and the tool sli.do was used extensively during discussions and for answering questions. Again, the day was con-cluded with a poster session, and during the confe-rence dinner, poster prizes where announced. The last day was split into four parallel sessions follo-wing the structure of the Ny-Ålesund flagships, but not limiting themselves to Ny-Ålesund.
The program has been updated with many of the presentations, and many of the posters can been found by following the poster overview on the same page.
When the plans for a Svalbard Conference was conceived by Svalbard Science Forum, there was some concern that there might already be too many conferences, and that researchers would not show up. The high number of participants proved that there is a need for such a meeting place. Discussions on a follow up conference will soon be underway and many lessons have been learnt during the 2017 conference.
Networking and sharing science during one of the breaks
Part of the new Metrology lab. Photo: Graziano Coppa, INRIM.
On field set up of the soli temperature datalogger in the CALM GRID area close to CCT.
Photo: Angelo Viola, CNR.
NNyy--ÅÅlleessuunndd NNeewwsslleetttteerr –– 4400tthh EEddiittiioonn –– FFeebbrruuaarryy 22001188
___________________________________________________________________________
5
SSF – general The SSF secretariat has been strengthened with one new full-time position from September 2017, and counts currently four persons. Our offices are still in the 2nd floor above the reception in the
Svalbard Science Center in Longyearbyen. We are happy to see you if you want to come by for a talk. We also look forward to see our members at the SSF meeting on 25 April in Longyearbyen.
New functions in RiS!
As you know, RiS is under constant development. The Governor’s application portal and Kings Bay’s booking portal came in 2015 and the reporting module to the Governor came in 2016. This is part of the development to make RIS a one-stop portal for researchers coming to Svalbard. What SSF want, is to make it easier for researchers to find new partners for cooperation in projects, and for coordination of fieldwork. This has, until now, only been possible by manual search. RiS will now do this for you every time you visit your project page. There are almost 5000 fieldwork sites in Svalbard and 3330 projects registered in RiS. We need to sort them and find the ones that are relevant for you. This is where the new application “Awareness” comes in. Check out your own project page at https://www.researchinsvalbard.no. Remember that search depends on the quality and quantity of the information you enter in your own project page, so please be precise! There has also been some updates in the booking module owned by Kings Bay. The one that you will notice quite fast is that your booking will be locked for editing after sending it. The reason is that the host institution and Kings Bay need to be able to deal with the booking before you make any new changes to it.
Changes made under consideration or before acceptance by the host institute, and before Kings Bay could check it, resulted in quite a lot of con-fusion for all parties. So be patient and wait for them to deal with it. When Kings Bay has finished, it will be either accepted or declined, and un-locked. If declined, you must make changes to the order lines that are declined before you can send it in for re-approval again. You will also notice that your booking page now shows the Booking ID number. Please refer to this ID when e-mailing about your booking. You will also notice that you can now select a new passenger type for the flights: Engineer/ technician/ consultant. Make it easy for yourself and avoid problems in RiS: Always make a new fieldwork period, covering the period you or your co-workers are actually out in the field (not a period covering many years). Multi-year fieldwork periods mess up statistics and the Awareness function described above quite a lot. Never "recycle" an old fieldwork period by changing the dates to make a new one. This makes a mess in the back-end of the database and will give you lots of trouble with bookings later on. The bookings and applications are generated from the fieldwork period, so it is important not to skip steps there.
NNyy--ÅÅlleessuunndd NNeewwsslleetttteerr –– 4400tthh EEddiittiioonn –– FFeebbrruuaarryy 22001188
___________________________________________________________________________
6
Strengthening the role of geodesy By Anne Jørgensen, Norwegian Mapping Authority
The new United Nations Subcommittee on Geodesy was inaugurated in Mexico City in November.
"This is certainly a good day for geodesy", says Gary Johnston, one of the two co-chairs of the sub-committee. "The new subcommittee is now established and this is an important step for improving global geo-desy. We must work for the benefit of all member states," says Alexey Trifonov, who is the newly elected co-chair from the Russian Federation. The inaugural meeting for the Subcommittee on Geodesy was convened on November 26th and 27th, and was hosted by INEGI in Mexico City in the margins of the 2017 UN-GGIM High Level Forum. 19 Member States and organizations par-ticipated in the meeting. Australia's Gary Johnston is continuing as co-chair for the next year, while Norway's Laila Løvhøiden is stepping down. "It is important that the co-chairing of the sub-committee is shared between the Member States as this will increase the involvement and spread the work load”, Løvhøiden says. “Norway has co-chaired the geodesy working group under UN-GGIM since 2013, and I am convinced that it will be very good for our work that the Russian Fede-ration now has acceded this position". The new co-chair is looking forward to start his new assignment for global geodesy. "An appropriate governance mechanism is a key-stone for future work. And now we must make efforts to make this new governance mechanism
mechanism as sustainable and long-term as the existing geodetic organizations are," says Alexey Trifonov. The creation of the subcommittee started last year, when United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) decided to elevate the Global Geodetic Reference Frame (GGRF) Working Group to a permanent Subcommittee on Geodesy. On the 4th August this year the UN-GGIM seventh session in New York endorsed the terms of reference and formally established the first permanent UN-GGIM Subcommittee on Geodesy.
as sustainable and long-term as the existing geo-detic organizations are”, says Alexey Trifonov. The creation of the subcommittee started last year, when United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) decided to elevate the Global Geodetic Reference Frame (GGRF) Working Group to a permanent Subcommittee on Geodesy. On the 4th August this year the UN-GGIM seventh session in New York endorsed the terms of reference and formally established the first permanent UN-GGIM Subcommittee on Geodesy. The subcommittee will now focus on continuing the successful efforts of the GGRF Working Group. "It is about ensuring that all countries in this world have access to precise positioning because we know it benefits their societies and the people that live within them. The geodetic reference frame makes this possible." says Gary Johnston. The work on developing an implementation plan for the GGRF Roadmap and a position paper for a governance structure is progressing and will be reported to the UN-GGIM Committee of Experts at its eighth session in August 2018. "We are about strengthening the role of geodesy in society and providing a greater governmental mandate that will hopefully result in sustainable operations of geodetic infrastructure and capacity development programs as well", says Johnston.
The inaugural meeting for the United Nations Subcommittee
on Geodesy was convened on November 26th and 27th, and was hosted by INEGI in Mexico City.
Photo: Anne Jørgensen, NMA, and INEGI.
Alexey Trifonov is the newly elected co-chair from the Russian
Federation. Australia's Gary Johnston is continuing as co-chair for the next year, while Norway's Laila Løvhøiden is stepping down.
Photo: Anne Jørgensen, NMA, and INEGI.
NNyy--ÅÅlleessuunndd NNeewwsslleetttteerr –– 4400tthh EEddiittiioonn –– FFeebbrruuaarryy 22001188
___________________________________________________________________________
7
NASA, Norway to Develop Arctic Laser-Ranging Station NASA and the Norwegian Mapping Authority are partnering to develop a state-of-the-art satellite laser ranging station 650 miles from the North Pole that will produce high-precision locations of
orbiting satellites, help track changes in the ice sheets and improve the efficiency of marine transportation and agriculture.
By Maria-José Vinas, NASA’s Earth Science News Team
The Arctic station will be the latest addition to a global network of space geodetic stations, which measure and monitor the size and shape of Earth, its orientation in space, the exact location of points on its surface and how these locations change over time. Space geodesy has a decades-long history at NASA due to its important role in the positioning and navigation of satellites. “This partnership with Norway is an important step for NASA and the scientific community in building the next generation space geodetic network,” said Benjamin Phillips, program scientist for NASA's Space Geodesy Program in Washington. “This network provides fundamental data for satellite and spacecraft navigation and underpins many of NASA’s Earth-observing missions and science.” Under the new agreement signed on August 7 2017, Norway and NASA will build and install a satellite laser ranging facility in Ny-Ålesund. NASA will also provide expert consultation on how to operate the instruments. The ground-based laser transmits ultrashort laser pulses aimed at satellites specially equipped with a retroreflector, an array of special mirrors that bounce the pulses back. The system measures the time it takes for the light to travel back to its point of origin, which is used to determine the position of the satellite with respect to the ground station with an accuracy of around 0.04 inches (1 millimeter). Combined with measurements from other geodetic instruments at the Ny-Ålesund Geodetic Obser-vatory and all over the globe, the laser ranging observations will help refine the Global Geodetic Reference Frame, the basis for setting coordinates for all locations on Earth’s surface. The reference frame is used to measure the position of objects in space with respect to the Earth, as well as to precisely monitor motions of Earth’s crust, changes in sea level, and to support satellite positioning technology like GPS, which is used in many aspects of our daily lives. The Next Generation Satellite Laser Ranging station. “From the NASA perspective, laser ranging is important to understanding where our spacecraft are, as well as where on Earth their measurements are located,” said Stephen Merkowitz, space geo-
desy project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Laser ranging is needed for satellites that require very precise positioning measurements. Today we’re tracking over 90 satellites, not only from NASA, but also from other space agencies with this tech-nique.” The new geodetic station in Ny-Ålesund will be the northernmost of its kind and will be invaluable for tracking satellites that follow polar orbits, as many of NASA’s Earth-observing missions do. To make sure the laser ranging system is able to work in Arctic conditions, NASA will use a tele-scope dome strong enough to open and break the ice that might accumulate on top during Svalbard’s frigid winters. The telescope will be mounted on a pointing gimbal that can still move when exposed to very cold temperatures. To be able to work during the Arctic summertime, when the constant sunlight makes it difficult to observe the stars needed to calibrate the telescope, NASA specified that this telescope has to be stable for months at a time. The Norwegian Mapping Authority started con-struction work on the new scientific base in 2014. The current goal is to have all systems in operation by 2022. “This is a major investment for Norway,” Merkowitz said. “Norwegians are particularly interested in the global applications. They’ve taken a leading role in the advocacy and implementation of many ini-tiatives relevant to space geodesy and its appli-cations towards monitoring climate change.” “In Svalbard, we’re already seeing the effects of climate change,” said Per Erik Opseth, director of the Geodetic Institute of the Norwegian Mapping Authority in Hønefoss, Norway, the agency working with NASA to develop the new laser ranging system. “Setting up this fundamental station in Ny-Ålesund will help Earth observations from satellites crossing the North Pole, so we can improve our knowledge of ice cap meltdown, sea level rise in this area and also the melt of sea ice in the basin between Russia and North America.”
NNyy--ÅÅlleessuunndd NNeewwsslleetttteerr –– 4400tthh EEddiittiioonn –– FFeebbrruuaarryy 22001188
___________________________________________________________________________
8
Continued development of the next-generation space geodetic network that the new station in Svalbard will contribute to is expected to further improve the accuracy of satellite measurements of Earth processes, including changes in polar ice sheets. One such mission is NASA’s upcoming Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2, designed to measure tiny changes in the elevation of Earth’s ice sheets that indicate ice loss or gain.
“With ICESat-2, we want to measure changes in the ice sheets that are on the order of centimeters per year,” said Goddard’s Scott Luthcke, lead for the ICESat-2 geolocation team. “If we made an error of a few centimeters when positioning the satellite in space with respect to the center of mass of the planet, which is established using geodetic data from the network, that would translate into a very large error in our calculations of the volume change of the ice sheets.”
Karen Feldstein (Deputy Associate Administrator for International and Interagency Relations) at NASA and Per Erik Opseth (Director of the Geodetic Institute, Kartverket) signing the agreement at NASA Headquarters, Washington DC.
Foto: Bill Ingalls, NASA.
The Norwegian Mapping Authority's new geodetic earth observatory in Ny-Ålesund. Photo: Per Erik Opseth, NMA.
NNyy--ÅÅlleessuunndd NNeewwsslleetttteerr –– 4400tthh EEddiittiioonn –– FFeebbrruuaarryy 22001188
___________________________________________________________________________
9
A New CAS Project ALEEABL - Field Observation on Land-air Exchange Processes at Ny-Ålesund
By Libo Zhou, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences The Arctic as the cold source of the global atmos-phere is experiencing an extremely fast change, which would have fundamental impacts on the global atmospheric circulations. Clear evidence shows that an extreme warming up in the European section of the Arctic, would enhance the East Asian trough and therefore bring an extreme cold winter in China. As the driving force to the atmospheric motions, the land-air energy ex-change and related boundary layer processes play important role in the Arctic change. For better understanding, the Arctic land-air energy exchange and the boundary layer pro-cesses, their change and physical mechanism, a new project “ALEEABL” (The Arctic Land-air Energy Exchange and Atmospheric Boundary Layer in the Global Change and the Impacts on the Weather and Climate in China) was financed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). As the most important component of the project, a long-term field observation will be carried out over the typical Arctic surface covers, as well as the theoretical and numerical studies, to investigate the distinguished land-air exchange and boundary layer processes in the Arctic region.
Last May, we made a field investigation to Ny-Ålesund, with three typical surface covers and ideal observation sites selected. Last October, a preliminary eddy-covariance observation started at the Chinese Arctic Yellow River facility, under the assistances of the China Arctic and Antarctic Administration (CAA) and Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC), for instrument tests and data verifications under the extremely cold environ-ment. According to the project planning, the intensive field observation will start from this spring and summer time and last at least for one year. During the observation, the solar radiation, atmospheric thermal and moisture conditions and land-air energy transfers will be measured over three typical Arctic surface covers, i.e., summer tundra and winter snow/ice, glacier, and ocean (see Figure 1 for the field observation sketch map). The instruments include wind lidar, temperature lidar, eddy covariance, unmanned aerial vehicle (see Figure 2 for the ideal observation planning). This field observation will also be cooperated with several international institutes such as NPI, AWI, KOPRI, CNR and so on.
Figure 1. Field observation sketch map
Figure 2. Ideal observation planning
NNyy--ÅÅlleessuunndd NNeewwsslleetttteerr –– 4400tthh EEddiittiioonn –– FFeebbrruuaarryy 22001188
___________________________________________________________________________
10
CLIMARCTIC - Climate change impacts on Arctic soil and lake microbiomes
By: Elie Verleyen, University of Gent, Belgium.
Nowhere is climate change more visible than in the Arctic (IPCC 2013). This makes it the most critical reference region for the detection and understanding of global change and its effects on ecosystems and their biodiversity. Particularly Arctic soils and lakes appear to be very sensitive to climate change. This is because changes in the physical properties of these systems as a result of climate change, such as reduced snow and ice cover and changes in the light availability, act as positive feedback mechanisms which accelerate their response. This rapid response is also due to the fact that biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem functioning in these environments are to a large extent controlled by microorganisms from all domains of life. It follows that relatively small climatic changes can have profound impacts on Arctic terrestrial and lacustrine ecosystems and their biota. This was recognized within the CLIMARCTIC pro-ject, which is aimed at studying the effects of climate change on the microbial diversity and functioning of High Arctic soils, wetlands and lake sediments in Ny Ålesund. CLIMARCTIC is a EU BiodivERsA project, coordinated by Elie Verleyen (Laboratory of Protistology and Aquatic Ecology, Ghent University, Belgium), in collaboration with Mette Marianne Svenning (UiT The Arctic University of Norway), Beat Frey (Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Switzerland), Antonio Quesada (Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain) and Ulf Karsten (University of Rostock, Germany).
In the summer of 2017, sites in Knudsenheia and Ossian-Sarsfjellet were sampled along transects, ranging from dry to wet soils and transgressing into lake ecosystems. The microbial communities of these samples are being sequenced using both amplicon (gene specific) and shotgun (total DNA or RNA) based approaches. This will result in a detailed view on the taxonomic composition as well as which functional genes are active under different environmental conditions. During the same field season, snow fences were installed which will mimic the effect of predicted increased snow fall on the composition and functioning of these microbial communities. This will provide useful data for predicting the response of these ecosystems, because increased snowfall will likely result in both an increase in liquid water availa-bility as well as increased protection against low winter temperatures. In turn, this can lead to pro-longed microbial activity in the fall and spring seasons which is expected to affect the methane budget of the soils. These field experiments will be complemented with focused laboratory experi-ments and paleolimnological analyses (incl. fossil DNA) of lake sediment cores from Ossian-Sarsvatnet. The latter will provide long-term data on the response of the ecosystems to past natural climate anomalies during the past 2000 years. Two additional field campaigns are planned, namely in spring and autumn/winter 2018, during which the activity of microorganisms at the onset of snow melt and snow cover will be investigated. More information can be found on the project’s website, www.climarctic.ugent.be.
Sampling the dry sites in Ossian-Sarsfjellet Photo: Vivien Hotter
The snow fence at the dry tundra site in Knudsenheia. Turbulence will cause snow to
accumulate down-wind of the fence and will enable us to study the effect of increased snow cover on the microbial communities and their ecosystem functions.
Photo: Bjorn Tytgat, UGhent.
NNyy--ÅÅlleessuunndd NNeewwsslleetttteerr –– 4400tthh EEddiittiioonn –– FFeebbrruuaarryy 22001188
___________________________________________________________________________
11
News from Kings Bay AS By Per Erik Hanevold and Svein Harald Sønderland, Kings Bay AS
Kings Bay and Ny-Ålesund is preparing for a new research season. The Polar night goes towards an end, and with the return of daylight, Ny-Ålesund will come to life. So far, it has been a poor winter with regards to snow, conditions good enough to take out your skis and snowmobile is still missing. However, it is highly likely that the winter will arrive, also in 2018. Terrestrial laboratory Kings Bay is now ready to put the finishing touches on the foundation to the new research building that will be in-between Himadri and the Vaskerilab. The building will be the Terrestrial lab and complement the Marine lab, and is planned to be finished early November 2018. With this building, the research community in Ny-Ålesund will have new and practical premises to conduct terrestrial research. NIPR will rent space in the new Terrestrial lab, re-locating from Rabben, and move into more up-to-date and convenient premises.
Photo: Per Erik Hanevold, KB AS.
Research
Total research days are more evened out through 2017 (Fig 1), and close to 1000 research days more than last year. CNR installed the sodar this fall next to the KOPRI wind lidar, and will start measuring in spring 2018, complementing the atmospheric monitoring.
NMA installed a superconducting gravimeter, and AWIPEV installed the new laser in the observatory. The green beam can once again be seen in Ny-Ålesund.
Photo: Per Erik Hanevold, KB AS.
Other projects The renovation of the old hospital, known as “Skutergarasjen”, is almost finished and is ready for the Ny-Ålesund interior decorator. The London House IV was the last in line, and all the London houses are now renovated.
2018 Travelling to and from Ny-Ålesund will be easier this year when the flight schedule is back to normal, with two flights on Monday and Friday, corresponding with flights to the mainland the same day. We hope that the conditions will provide for an attractive and rewarding 2018 season in Ny-Ålesund.
Figure 1. Total research days in Ny-Ålesund 2017
NNyy--ÅÅlleessuunndd NNeewwsslleetttteerr –– 4400tthh EEddiittiioonn –– FFeebbrruuaarryy 22001188
___________________________________________________________________________
12
Topics from the 47th NySMAC meeting in Oslo
Topics from the previous NySMAC meeting held in Oslo, Norway 9 - 10 November 2017:
Status reports and planned activities from member
institutions
News from the flagships
Reflections from the Svalbard Science Conference
SSF work report
Safety regulations, possibilities, procedures
Research strategy for Ny-Ålesund – expectations
Information from Kings Bay AS
NKOM – regulations – use of frequencies
INTERACT II – update
SIOS - update
Drones – flying – regulations – procedures
Sky project UiB. Campaign Ny-Ålesund spring 2018
Upcoming meetings
The NySMAC participants gathered outside the venue at the Research Council of Norway, Oslo.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Input to Ny-Ålesund Newsletter If you would like to contribute to future editions of this newsletter, please e-mail [email protected]. Any ideas or suggestions for topics are also welcome. Editor: Ingrid Halsebø Storhaug, NySMAC Secretariat. Next edition: July/August 2018.
Subscribe/unsubscribe to the Ny-Ålesund Newsletter:
E-mail [email protected] and write subscribe/unsubscribe in the subject field.
Sea map made by the Norwegian Coast guard
NNyy--ÅÅlleessuunndd NNeewwsslleetttteerr –– 4400tthh EEddiittiioonn –– FFeebbrruuaarryy 22001188
___________________________________________________________________________
13
CONTACT ADDRESSES FOR STATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS PRESENT IN NY-ÅLESUND
Andøya Space Center (ASC) PO Box 54, 8483 Andenes, Norway Tel: +47 76 14 44 20 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.andoyaspace.no AWIPEV Arctic Research Base 9173 Ny-Ålesund, Norway Tel: +47 79 02 68 60 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.awipev.eu Germany address: Alfred Wegener Institut (AWI) Forschungsstelle Potsdam, Telegrafenberg A43 D-14473 Potsdam, Germany Tel: +49 331 288 2129 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.awi.de/en/go/koldewey France address: Institut Francais Polaire, Paul Emile Victor (IPEV) Technopôle Brest-Iroise, BP 75 29280 Plouzané, France Tel: +33 298 056 556 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.institut-polaire.fr Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) Dirigibile Italia 9173 Ny-Ålesund, Norway Tel: +47 79 02 71 45 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.cnr.it Italy address: ISAC-CNR Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate Via Gobetti 101 40129 Bologna, Italy Tel: +39 051 6399595 E-mail: [email protected] GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (GFZ) Telegrafenberg A17 D-14473 Potsdam, Germany Tel: +49 331 288 1736 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.gfz-potsdam.de National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) Himadri station 9173 Ny-Ålesund, Norway E-mail: [email protected] India address: National centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) Headland Sada, Vasco da Gama Goa - 403 804, INDIA Tel: +91 832 2520876, 2525501 E-mail: [email protected] http://ncaor.gov.in/
Kings Bay AS (KB) N-9173 Ny-Ålesund, Norway Tel: +47 79 01 72 80 E-maIl: [email protected] http://www.kingsbay.no Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) Dasan Station 9173 Ny-Ålesund, Norway Tel: +47 79 02 68 44 E-mail: [email protected] Korea address: Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) 26 Songdomirae-ro, Yeonsu-gu Incheon, 21990, Korea Tel: +82 32 770 8400 E-mail: [email protected] http://kopri.re.kr National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) Rabben, 9173 Ny-Ålesund, Norway Tel: +47 79 02 71 07 Japan address: National Institute of Polar Research Midoricho 10-3, Tachikawa Tokyo 190-8518, Japan Tel: +81 42 512 0644 E-mail: [email protected] http://www-arctic.nipr.ac.jp/ Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Harland House, 9173 Ny-Ålesund, Norway Tel: +47 79 02 70 11 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.nerc.ac.uk UK address: National Environment Research Council (NERC) BAS, High Cross Madingley Road Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK Tel: +44 1793 411 500 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.nerc.ac.uk Northern Research Institute AS (NORUT) P.O. Box 6434 9294 Tromsø, Norway Tel: +47 62 94 00 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.norut.no Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) P.O. Box 100 2027 Kjeller, Norway Tel: +47 63 89 80 00 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.nilu.no Norwegian Mapping Authority (NMA) Ny-Ålesund Geodetic Observatory 9173 Ny-Ålesund, Norway Tel: +47 79 02 70 10 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.statkart.no
Norwegian Polar Institute (NP) Sverdrupstasjonen. 9173 Ny-Ålesund, Norway Tel: +47 79 02 71 15 E-mail: [email protected] http://npolar.no Norway address: Norwegian Polar Institute PO Box 6606 Langnes, 9296 Tromsø, Norway Tel: +47 77 75 05 00 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.npolar.no NySMAC (Ny-Ålesund Science Managers Committee) c/o Norwegian Polar Institute PO Box 6606 Langnes, 9296 Tromsø, Norway Tel: +47 77 75 05 00 E-mail: [email protected] http://npolar.no/nysmac/ Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC) Yellow River Station 9173 Ny-Ålesund, Norway Tel: +47 79 02 79 89 E-mail: [email protected] China address: Division of International Cooperation Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration No.1 Fuxingmenwai Ave., Beijing 100860, China Tel:+86 10 68036469 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.chinare.gov.cn Stockholm University (SU) Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry (ACES) Atmospheric Science Unit S 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden Tel: +46 706341511 E-mail: [email protected] www.aces.su.se University of Groningen (UoG) Arctic Centre P.O. Box 716 9700 AS Groningen, The Netherlands Tel: +31 50 363 6834 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.arcticstation.nl University of Tromsø (UiT) Department of Arctic and Marine Biology Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics Tromsø University N-9037 Tromsø, Norway Tel: +47 77 64 60 00 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.uit.no
